I began my summer reading with a book I’d squirreled away for a delicious treat. Since Kate Atkinson’s One Good Turn (Bond Street Books) was published in 2006, I knew no one would expect me to write about it. That seemed reason enough for it to be the book I brought out to the tree when the skies cleared enough to invite a few well-spent outdoor hours. I’d heard enough about One Good Turn that I figured I’d enjoy it, but I didn’t plan on being staggered, and I am. One Good Turn follows up Case Histories, the novel that introduced former detective Jackson Brodie, now a retired millionaire living a life of leisure in France. In One Good Turn he meets up with sometime girlfriend Julia, an actress, in Edinburgh, Scotland, and ends up on the side of the law he’s less familiar with. One Good Turn is brilliant. The writing here is sharp and vivid, often moving and occasionally even humorous in a way that provokes thought. One Good Turn is not the sort of book that wants a qualifier -- if you like this, then you’ll enjoy that. If you like to read any sort of mystery and enjoy a tightly written and tautly plotted book, you won’t go wrong with One Good Turn.